State Parks of Wisconsin 



LETTERS RELATING TO STATE PARKS 



Letter of President Eliot of Harvard 



ON 



State Parks for Wisconsin 



My Dear Sir: — Massachusetts is acquiring public reservations in 

 three ways. First, by the direct action of the state appropriating 

 money for the purchase of wooded hills to be preserved for public 

 parks. Secondly, through the action of state appointed commissions, 

 like the Metropolitan Water Board and the Metropolitan Park 

 Commission, securing large areas for public use, which are paid for 

 by assessments on the portion of the state which is benefited. In this 

 way the Metropolitan Parks and Parkways around Boston have 

 been created and large reservations have been secured on the water- 

 shed of the Metropolitan Water Supply. Thirdly, by creating a 

 board called the Trustees of Public Reservations, which holds reser- 

 vations in various parts of the state, and also funds to maintain these 

 reservations in good order. These reservations and the funds which 

 go with them are gifts from private persons; but all the reservations in 

 the hands of the trustees are for public use. The Board has been in 

 existence fourteen years, and it has acquired a variety of beautiful 



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